OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — Old Orchard Beach police have charged 46 people and confiscated $155,000 worth of illegal drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin, after four months of investigation into drug trafficking activity in the town, police announced Monday.

The crowd of suspects implicated in the round-up includes four juveniles — two of whom are 14 years old — and at least 24 Old Orchard Beach residents. Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Dana Kelley also said in a statement Monday that another 20 cases remain active and could result in additional individuals being charged in the weeks and months ahead.

The summer and early fall sweeps racked up 36 felony charges, 50 misdemeanor charges and 15 civil charges, the chief said, and involved 12 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in addition to the Old Orchard Beach police.

“Seized narcotics include crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and assorted prescription drugs,” Kelley said in the statement. “It is estimated that if sold, these narcotics would have a street value of over $155,000 dollars.

“As a result of these narcotics investigations officers have also had contact with individuals who have been in violation of bail conditions, had warrants and one individual who was a violent sexual predator who failed to comply with the Sex Offender Registration Act,” he continued.

Kelley told the Bangor Daily News on Monday the string of busts over the past four months is less a sign of a large spiderweb of criminal activity and more of the prevalence of many unrelated small-time criminals working in and around Old Orchard Beach.

But, he said the arrests represent the results of an initiative he started late last spring in an effort to close the loop on a slate of tips his officers received on their beats, but didn’t have time or resources to thoroughly follow up on.

“Prior to the last four months, we haven’t had anyone assigned specifically to deal with drug investigations like these,” he said. “Back in May or June, I put two investigators just on these drug cases. That has come with a cost, because those officers have been pulled off patrols and we’ve had to use overtime hours to backfill those shifts.

“[But these cases] take a lot of follow-up, talking to people and surveillance. When you don’t have somebody focused on doing just that, you can’t be too successful.”

Kelley said he has yet to calculate how much in overtime costs his department has expended on the effort over the past four months, but said he anticipates having to approach the town council to explain the spending and potentially request additional funds to continue the initiative moving forward.

“I want people to know what’s going on in this community, so I can defend using our resources to police that in a more effective way,” he said. “Something like this goes above and beyond what most people would consider fat in the budget.”

Other agencies credited with taking part in the investigations include the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agencies of Maine and Washington state, the U.S. Postal Inspector Services in Maine and California, the Portland office of the High Impact Drug Trafficking Areas task force, the Southern Maine Violent Crimes Task Force, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Maine State Police, the Saco and Scarborough police departments, the Sagadahoc and Washington county sheriff’s offices and the Lincoln, Calif., Police Department.

Michael Amico, 41, of Old Orchard Beach, is facing charges of failing to register as a sex offender and having prohibited contact with a minor as a result of the investigation, according to Monday’s announcement.